Well pipe swage

ABSTRACT

A swage which is adapted to be jarred upwardly as well as downwardly against restrictions within a well pipe in response to rotation of a running tool from which the swage is suspended within the pipe.

United States Patent 11 1 Webb 1 1 Jan. 30, 1973 s41 WELL PIPE SWAGE 1,897,267 2/1933 Mecom ..175/29s 2,742,265 4/1956 Snyder ..175/298 X [75] Inventor- Houstom'rex' 3,528,498 9/1970 Carothers ..175/29s x [73] Assignee: Houston Engineers, Inc., Houston,

Tex. Primary ExaminerDavid H. Brown [22] Fned Sept 1971 Attorney-W. F. Hyer et a1, [211 App]. N0.: 177,579 1521 U5. c1 ..l66/55, 175/298 [57] ABSTRACT [51] lnt.Cl. .E21b 29/00 A swage which is adapted to be jarred upwardly as [58] Field of Search ....166/55; 175/298; 72/370, 476 well as downwardly against restrictions within a well pipe in response to rotation of a running tool from [56] References Cited which the swage is suspended within the pipe.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 11 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 1,653,093 12/1927 Fleming ..175/298 PATENTEDJAI 30 I973 SHEET 2 OF 2 fie/v'e/ J. Web

I N VEN TOR.

WELL PIPE SWAGE This invention relates in general to a swage for use in removing restrictions within a well pipe, which are due to partial collapse of the pipe as it is run into a well bore or while disposed therein, and thus restoring the internal diameter of the pipe to a predetermined minimum, which may be drift size. More particularly, it relates to improvements in a swage of the type which is suspended from a running tool and adapted to jar against such restrictions in response to rotation of the running tool.

A swage of this type is shown and described in US. Pat. No. 3,528,498, and although constituting a considerable advance over the prior art, it nevertheless has certain shortcomings. Thus, for example, this prior swage is arranged to jar only in a downward direction. In many cases,it has been found that the elasticity of the pipe causes at least a portion of the restriction to return, after the swage has moved downwardly through it, to less than the minimum desired. When this occurs, the swage must be pulled back through the returning portion of the restriction in order to remove the swage from the drill pipe, or in order to raise it above the returning portion for additional downward jarring operations. It may be found to be very difficult, if not impossible, to raise the swage in this manner; and it is therefore an object of this invention to provide a swage which may also jar upwardly so as to remove such returning portions of the restrictions.

Another object is to provide such a swage in which both upward and downward jars may be delivered in response to rotation of the running tool in the same direction, and preferably in response to right-hand rotation of the running tool so as to avoid the danger of unscrewing threaded joints in the tool.

A further object is to provide such a swage in which the jarring surfaces are enclosed so as to minimize the possibility of damage thereto.

Still another object is to provide such a swage which has jarring surfaces of maximum size for delivering jars of maximum force, which is of compact and relatively inexpensive construction, and which is easy to assemble and disassemble, either initially or upon replacement of certain of its parts.

These and other objects are accomplished, in accordance with the illustrated embodiment of the invention, by a swage which, as in the prior swage of US. Pat. No. 3,528,498, comprises a knocker suspended from the running tool, and a swaging member carried by the knocker for longitudinal and rotational movement with respect thereto. However, as distinguished from the prior swage, the swaging member has upwardly as well as downwardly facing shoulders which fit closely within the well pipe for engaging the restrictions within the well pipe when the swaging member is raised and lowered, respectively. Also, the knocker has upwardly as well as downwardly facing cam surfaces raisable and lowerable, respectively, into engagement with downwardly and upwardly facing cam surfaces on the swaging member for jarring the latter upwardly as well as downwardly in response to rotation of the knocker. More particularly, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, both the downwardly and upwardly facing cam surfaces on the knocker are arranged oppositely to one another so as to jar the upwardly and downwardly facing cam surfaces, respectively, on the swaging member in response to rotation of the knocker in the same direction.

The swaging member includes a tubular body surrounding the knocker and upper and lower heads connected to the upper and lower ends of the body, and the above-mentioned upwardly and downwardly facing shoulders for engaging the restrictions within the well pipe are formed on the outer ends of the heads. The inner ends of the heads provide internal shoulders on which the downwardly and upwardly facing cam surfaces of the swaging member are provided, and the opposite ends of the knocker provide internal shoulders on which its cam surfaces are provided. More particularly, the tubular body of the swaging member fits closely about the knocker and is continuous between its upper and lower heads, and the upper head of the swaging member fits closely about a mandrel which connects the knocker to the running tool, so that the cam surfaces are enclosed and thus protected against damage while disposed within the well pipe.

The lower end of the mandrel has threads which are extendible longitudinally through the upper head of swaging member for connection to the knocker, and the upper and lower heads are welded to the upper and lower ends of the body of the swaging member. In assembling the tool, it is merely necessary to move the lower end of the mandrel through the upper head, threadedly connect the knocker to the lower end of the mandrel, place the tubular body about the knocker for welding to the upper head, and place the lower head over the lower end of the tubular body for welding thereto. Upon wear, the swaging member and knocker are easily and quickly replaced as a unit by unscrewing the lower end of the mandrel with respect to the knocker and withdrawing it through the upper head of the swaging member.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters are used throughout to designate like parts:

FIG. 1 is a side view of the swage as the swaging member thereof is lowered into engagement with a restriction in a well pipe for jarring downwardly thereon;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but upon movement of the swaging member downwardly through the restriction and subsequent raising thereof into engagement with a returning portion of the restriction of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view of the swage, with the right-hand side thereof shown in section and the lefthand side shown in elevation, and with part of the swaging member broken away;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the knocker and the upper and lower heads of the swaging member, as seen from below; and

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the same parts, as seen from above.

With reference now to the details of the abovedescribed drawings, the over-all swage, which is indicated in its entirety by reference character 10, is suspended from a running tool 11 (FIG. 2), which may comprise a string of drill pipe, for longitudinal and rotary movement within a well pipe 12 (FIGS. 1 and 2). As shown in FIG. 1, a portion of the well pipe may be restricted as indicated at R in FIG. 1 so as to reduce its inner diameter to substantially less than drift" size,

which of course prevents many tools from being run therethrough. As will be described to follow, operation of the swage to jar downwardly against the restriction R will cause the pipe 12 to be at least initially restored to drift size as the swage moves downwardly through it.

However, as previously described, it has been found that in many cases, at least a portion of the restriction will return, as indicated at R in FIG. 2, and thus again reduce the internal diameter of the well pipe to less than drift size. According to the present invention, the swage 10 may in this event be operated to jar upwardly against the restriction R so as to again restore the well pipe to drift size as the swage moves upwardly through it; and if this upward jarring is insufficiently restore the internal diameter of the well pipe to at least drift size, the swage may again be operated through one or more cycles of downward and upward jars until the well pipe is so restored.

As shown in FIG. 3, the swage comprises a knocker 14 connected tothe lower end of a mandrel 15, and a swaging member 13 carried by the knocker 14 for longitudinal and rotational movement with respect thereto. The upper end of the mandrel has a pin 16 for connection to a box in the lower end of the running tool 1 1, whereby the mandrel and thus the knocker and the swaging member may be raised and lowered with the running tool, and the mandrel and knocker may be rotated therewith.

The knocker 14 has relatively course, female threads 17 for making up with right-hand threads 18 about the mandrel, and a flange 19 on the lower end of the swage beneath the threads is adapted to engage the lower end face of the mandrel when the threads 17 and 18 are fully made up. A passageway 20 extending through the mandrel forms a downward continuation of a passageway 21 through the running tool, and is aligned with and forms an upward continuation of a passageway 22 through the flange 19 on the lower end of the knocker.

The swaging member 13 includes a tubular body 23, which fits closely about the knocker 14, and upper and lower heads 24 and 25 which have reduced diameter portions to receive the upper and lower ends of the body. When so received, the ends of the tubular body are welded to the heads, as shown in FIG. 3, so that the outer sides of the body and head are of equal diameters which project radially outwardly from the mandrel and running tool for fitting closely within the well pipe. The tubular body is continuous from end to end, the upper head 24 fits closely about the mandrel 15 above the threads 18, and the lower head 25 has a passageway 26 therethrough forming a downward continuation of the passageways 20 and 22 through the mandrel and knocker.

The upper end of the upper head 24 forms a shoulder 24A for engaging a restriction R when the swage is raised, as shown in FIG. 2, and the lower end of the lower head 25 forms a shoulder 258 for engaging a restriction R when the swage is lowered, as shown in FIG. 1. More particularly, both shoulders are conically shaped for facilitating enlargement of the restriction upon jarring thereagainst.

The upper end of the knocker provides an upwardly facing internal shoulder 27 below a downwardly facing internal shoulder 28 on the lower end of upper head 24.

More particularly, these shoulders extend entirely across the annular space between the outer diameter of the mandrel and the inner diameter of the tubular 5 body. The lower end of the flange 19 of the knocker provides a downwardly facing internal shoulder 39 above an upwardly facing internal shoulder on the upper end of head 25, and these two shoulders extend entirely across the annular space between the passageways 22 through the knocker flange and 26 through the lower head 25, respectively, and the inner diameter of the tubular body 23.

Each pair of engageable shoulders 27,28 and 29,30 are provided with cam surfaces comprising circumferentially successive, gradually and abruptly inclined surfaces 27A, 2713, 28A, 28B, 29A, 29B, 30A and 308. The cam surfaces 27A,27B match the cam surfaces 30A,30B so that with the respective matching pairs of cam surfaces engaged with one another rotation of the knocker to the right, as indicated by the arrows of FIGS. 1 and 2, will cause the cam surfaces on the knocker to ride over and beyond the matching cam surfaces on the swaging member and thus deliver jars thereto. More particularly, the peaks of the cam surfaces 27A,27B and 29A,29B on the ends of the knocker are spaced apart a distance less than the spacing between the peaks of the cam surfaces 28A,28B and 30A,30B on the upper and lower heads of the swaging member, so as to permit each pair to cooperate independently of the other. In the illustrated and preferred embodiment, the inclines on the surfaces 27A,28A are opposite to those of the surfaces 29A,30A so that, as previously described, jars are delivered both upwardly and downwardly in response to right-hand rotation of the knocker.

Thus, for example, the running too] 11 may be lowered so as to lower shoulder 25A of the swaging member into engagement with the upper end of the restriction R and lower the cam surfaces 29A,29B on the knocker against the cam surfaces 30A,30B on the lower head 25. The weight of the running string is then slacked off to force the shoulder 25A tightly against the restriction, and the running tool and thus the knocker are rotated to the right. Since the swaging member is held against rotation due to its tight engagement with restriction R, the cam surfaces 29A,29B on the knocker are intermittently jarred downwardly against the cam surfaces 30A,30B on the swaging member, and thus against the restriction, and such jarring is continued until restriction R is removed to permit the swage to be moved down through it.

Then, in the event it is found that upon raising the running tool 11, so as to in turn raise the swage 10, the swage cannot move upwardly through the restriction R i.e., that the restriction R has returned to less than drift size a strain is taken on the running tool to raise shoulder 24A against restriction R and cam surfaces 27A,27B against cam surfaces 28A,28B. At this time, the running tool is again rotated in a right-hand direction to cause the cam surfaces 27A,27B to intermittently jar upwardly on the cam surfaces 28A,28B of the swaging member and thus the restriction R. This upward jarring is continued until the restriction R is removed and the swaging member is free to move upwardly therethrough.

Since both upward and downward jars are delivered in response to rotation of the running too] to the right, there is no danger of unscrewing joints in the running tool above the swage or the connection between the threads 17 and 18 during the jarring operations. Still further, since the cam surfaces 27A,27B and 28A,28B extend laterally the entire distance between the passageways through the knocker and the lower head 25 of the swaging member and the inner diameter of the tubular body 23, they are of maximum area for delivering maximum jarring forces.

In the assembly of the above-described swage, the threaded end of the mandrel is first passed through the head 24 of the swaging member, and the knocker 14 is threadedly connected thereto. The tubular body 23 of the swaging member is passed over the knocker and into position for forming the weld between its upper end and the head 24, and the lower head 25 of the swaging member is moved into and welded to the lower end of the tubular body 23. Upon formation of both welds, the swage is completely assembled.

As the outside of the swaging member wears, it can be turned down to make it useful for removing restrictions from smaller sizes of well pipe. in the event the swaging member ultimately requires replacement, it may be replaced with the knocker 14 as a unit. For this purpose, the mandrel may be withdrawn so as to pull the cam surfaces 27A,27B tightly against the cam surfaces 28A,28B. The mandrel may then be rotated in a left-hand direction so as to back the threads 18 out of the threads 17 due to the engagement of the abrupt cam surfaces 27B and 28B on the knocker and head 24 with one another. The mandrel may then be assembled with another swaging member and knocker unit in the manner above described.

From the foregoing it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all of the ends and objects hereinabove set forth, together with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherent to the apparatus.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims.

As many'possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

The invention having been described, what is claimed is:

l. A swage for use in removing restrictions within a well pipe, comprising a knocker adapted to be connected to a running tool for longitudinal and rotary movement within the well pipe, a swaging member carried by the knocker for longitudinal and rotary movement with respect thereto and having upwardly and downwardly facing shoulders which fit closely within the well pipe for engaging the restrictions within the well pipe when said swaging member is raised and lowered, respectively, with the knocker, means on the knocker lowerable into engagement with means on the swaging member for jarring the swaging member downwardly in response to rotation of the knocker with respect to the swaging member, and means on the knocker raisable into engagement with means on the swaging member for jarring the swaging member upwardly in response to rotation of the knocker with respect to the swaging member.

2. A swage of the character defined in claim 1, wherein both means on the knocker and the swaging member are arranged to jar said member downwardly as well as upwardly in response to rotation of the knocker in the same direction.

3. A swage of the character defined in claim 1, wherein said means comprise cam surfaces on the knocker and swaging member having circumferentially successive, gradually and abruptly inclined surfaces.

4. A swage of the character defined in claim 1, wherein each of said shoulders is conically shaped.

5. A swage of the character defined in claim 1, wherein the lower end of the swaging member and the knocker have communicating passageways therethrough.

6. A swage for use in removing restrictions within a well pipe, comprising a mandrel having means on its upper end connectible to a running tool for longitudinal and rotary movement within the well pipe, a knocker connected to the mandrel and having external upwardly and downwardly facing shoulders thereon, and a swaging member including a tubular body surrounding the knocker for rotational and longitudinal movement with respect thereto and upper and lower heads having upwardly and downwardly facing external shoulders thereon for engaging the restrictions within the well pipe when raised and lowered therein, respectively, and downwardly and upwardly facing internal shoulders above and below and respectively lowerable and raisable into engagement with the upwardly and downwardly facing shoulders on the knocker to permit the swaging member to be raised and lowered with the knocker, the upwardly facing shoulder on the knocker being provided with circumferentially successive, gradually inclined cam surfaces cooperable with matching cam surfaces provided on the downwardly facing shoulder on the swaging member for jarring the member upwardly in response to rotation of the knocker with respect thereto, and the downwardly facing shoulders on the knocker being provided with circumferentially successive, gradually inclined cam surfaces cooperable with matching cam surfaces on the upwardly facing shoulder on the swaging member for jarring said member downwardly in response to rotation of said knocker with respect thereto.

7. A swage of the character defined in claim 6, wherein the cam surfaces provided on the knocker and swaging member for jarring the member upwardly are inclined ina rotational direction opposite to the inclination of the cam surfaces thereon for jarring the member downwardly, whereby the swage is jarred upwardly and downwardly, in response to rotation of the knocker in the same direction.

8. A swage of the character defined in claim 6, wherein the body of the swaging member fits closely about the knocker and encloses it between its upper and lower heads, and the upper head of the swaging member fits closely about the mandrel.

9. A swage of the character defined in claim 6, wherein the lower end of the mandrel has threads which are extendible longitudinally through the upper head and connected to the knocker, and the upper and lower heads are welded to the upper and lower ends of the body of the swaging member.

10. A swage of the character defined in claim 6, therehmughwherein each of the external shoulders on the swaging i t i i i 

1. A swage for use in removing restrictions within a well pipe, comprising a knocker adapted to be connected to a running tool for longitudinal and rotary movement within the well pipe, a swaging member carried by the knocker for longitudinal and rotary movement with respect thereto and having upwardly and downwardly facing shoulders which fit closely within the well pipe for engaging the restrictions within the well pipe when said swaging member is raised and lowered, respectively, with the knocker, means on the knocker lowerable into engagement with means on the swaging member for jarring the swaging member downwardly in response to rotation of the knocker with respect to the swaging member, and means on the knocker raisable into engagement with means on the swaging member for jarring the swaging member upwardly in response to rotation of the knocker with respect to the swaging member.
 1. A swage for use in removing restrictions within a well pipe, comprising a knocker adapted to be connected to a running tool for longitudinal and rotary movement within the well pipe, a swaging member carried by the knocker for longitudinal and rotary movement with respect thereto and having upwardly and downwardly facing shoulders which fit closely within the well pipe for engaging the restrictions within the well pipe when said swaging member is raised and lowered, respectively, with the knocker, means on the knocker lowerable into engagement with means on the swaging member for jarring the swaging member downwardly in response to rotation of the knocker with respect to the swaging member, and means on the knocker raisable into engagement with means on the swaging member for jarring the swaging member upwardly in response to rotation of the knocker with respect to the swaging member.
 2. A swage of the character defined in claim 1, wherein both means on the knocker and the swaging member are arranged to jar said member downwardly as well as upwardly in response to rotation of the knocker in the same direction.
 3. A swage of the character defined in claim 1, wherein said means comprise cam surfaces on the knocker and swaging member having circumferentially successive, gradually and abruptly inclined surfaces.
 4. A swage of the character defined in claim 1, wherein each of said shoulders is conically shaped.
 5. A swage of the character defined in claim 1, wherein the lower end of the swaging member and the knocker have communicating passageways therethrough.
 6. A swage for use in removing restrictions within a well pipe, comprising a mandrel having means on its upper end connectible to a running tool for longitudinal and rotary movement within the well pipe, a knocker connected to the mandrel and having external upwardly and downwardly facing shoulders thereon, and a swaging member including a tubular body surrounding the knocker for rotational and longitudinal movement with respect thereto and upper and lower heads having upwardly and downwardly facing external shoulders thereon for engaging the restrictions within the well pipe when raised and lowered therein, respectively, and downwardly and upwardly facing internal shoulders above and below and respectively lowerable and raisable into engagement with the upwardly and downwardly facing shoulders on the knocker to permit the swaging member to be raised and lowered with the knocker, the upwardly facing shoulder on the knocker being provided with circumferentially successive, gradually inclined cam surfaces cooperable with matching cam surfaces provided on the downwardly facing shoulder on the swaging member for jarring the member upwardly in response to rotation of the knocker with respect thereto, and the downwardly facing shoulders on the knocker being provided with circumferentially successive, gradually inclined cam surfaces cooperable with matching cam surfaces on the upwardly facing shoulder on the swaging member for jarring said member downwardly in response to rotation of said knocker with respect thereto.
 7. A swage of the character defined in claim 6, wherein the cam surfaces provided on the knocker and swaging member for jarring the member upwardly are inclined in a rotational direction opposite to the inclination of the cam surfaces thereon for jarring the member downwardly, whereby the swage is jarred upwardly and downwardly, in response to rotation of the knocker in the same direction.
 8. A swage of the character defined in claim 6, wherein the body of the swaging member fits closely about the knocker and encloses it between its upper and lower heads, and the upper head of the swaging member fits closely about the mandrel.
 9. A swage of the character defined in claim 6, wherein the lower end of the mandrel has threads which are extendible longitudinally through the upper head and connected to the knocker, and the upper and lower heads are welded to the upper and lower ends of the body of the swaging member.
 10. A swage of the character defined in claim 6, wherein each of the external shoulders on the swaging head is conically shaped. 